9 ways to rehome your pet

As much as we’d love to live in a world where all pets, adopted or bought, are loved and cared for until their final days – as should be the intention when deciding to care for a pet – the unfortunate reality is that there are instances where pets need to be rehomed, whether it be out of sheer necessity or sheer inconvenience.

With so many unwanted animals bursting out of shelters already, rehoming really should be a last resort. Issues such as behavioural problems can often be rectified with medical intervention of through behaviour modification in consultation with an accredited animal behaviourist.

The cost of expensive medical attention may be reduced through the use of rescue medical facilities. Allergies can often be managed with medication or careful cleaning and restriction of pet’s access within the home. Consider and investigate thoroughly any and all possible solutions before making the difficult decision to rehome.

When rehoming truly is the only solution, the below tips may make the transition as kind as possible:

Contact

Start by contacting the person or organisation where you adopted or bought the pet from. Often, they may prefer to get involved in rehoming to ensure the correct checks are done.

Connect

Connect with family and friends in case they are willing to take over caring for your pet. Do home checks to ensure that all of their needs will be met. Networking and time are key but advertising that a pet is “free to a good home” is not advisable as your pet may end up in an unsavoury situation, especially if you do not do the necessary background investigations.

Limit stress

If possible, keep your pet in your home until a new owner can be found to limit the stress of multiple new environments.

Routine care

Do all you can to get your pet up to date with routine care (such as tick and flea control, annual veterinary checkups etc.) to limit the burden on a new owner.

Assistance

Make contact with local vets and rescue groups to find out if they can assist you in rehoming your pet or have the space to take your pet in. Rescue facilities are extremely busy and often have limited or no space, so please do not just show up on their door or worse yet, just drop the pet off unplanned or unannounced.

Network

Network with other pet-related professions and persons, such as trainers and pet lovers, as they may know of someone looking to adopt

Honesty helps

Be honest about the reasons for rehoming a pet. If it purely a case of no longer wanting the pet, say so. Creating false reasons will reduce the likelihood of finding a new home for your pet or not disclosing issues will increase the likelihood of an unsuccessful match being made.

Personality

Be clear and truthful about your pet’s personality and individual needs to maximize the chances of finding them the right home. If, for example, your dog does not do well with children, be upfront with the information so that he is not rehomed with young kids.

Take precautions

Remember that rehoming a pet will be stressful for you and even more so for the pet. Every precaution and measure that you can take to make the change as stress-free as possible will assist in the transition.